GreenWatch

B. McPherson Warning: Graphic footage. If you've ever thought about attending a dolphin show, then you must witness this. The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has started its annual campaign to convince the Japanese to stop the dolphin slaughter in Taiji Japan. The area, better known as The Cove, hit the public’s awareness with the documentary film of the carnage. Hundreds of dolphins are slaughtered annually by herding them into the confined cove and brutally slaughtering these sea mammals. This killing season’s campaign is Operation Infinite Patience by the Cove Guardians. This is the fourth season of the Sea Shepherd’s Society efforts to stop the butchery. They have vowed to return each year until the Japanese cease this practise. Many of the young dolphins orphaned in the killing of their family groups are kept live for sale to various irresponsible aquaria throughout the world. Dolphins that are performing at various venues are brutally ripped from their famili...

Whale Porn B. McPherson The American National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration(NOAA) has foiled an attempt to bring 18 captive beluga whales into the USA to be exhibits at amusement parks. According to Sea ShepherdSociety , the federal regulatory agency requested and received 9 000 comments on the proposed importation and 76 000 signatures opposing the proposal. If permitted, the whales would have been brought to the US by  the Georgia Aquarium located in Atlanta. From there they would have been distributed to SeaWorlds in Florida, Texas and California as well as the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago. The source of the white, Arctic based whales was off the Russian Arctic in the Sea of Okhotsk between 2006 and 2011. They have been moved to the Black Sea except for two that were transported to Japan and held at Taiji, better known as The Cove . If they remain there, it is likely that these intelligent animals will witness the gruesome slaughter of the dolphins. Last c...

B. McPherson Sea Shepherd Society 2013 Zero Tolerance Campaign The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society’s efforts to thwart the Japanese whaling fleet in the Southern Ocean led to violence and damage to vessels today. The Steve Irwin and Bob Barker Sea Shepherd vessels as well as a South Korean refueling vessel Sun Laurel suffered damage.  Details about the confrontation as the Sea Shepherd vessels attempted to block refueling of the Japanese processing ship Nisshin Maru are coming out gradually. The Japanese version is that the Sea Shepherd group deliberately rammed the factory ship as it attempted to refuel. Details posted by conservation group differ considerably. They outline the positions of their three vessels to block refueling. Their version puts the   Nisshin Maru as the aggressor with the much larger vessel deliberately attacking and ramming from the rear. The damage to the Bob Barker extensive with power out, radar damaged and water in the engin...

B. McPherson Sea Shepherd Conservation Society Outwits, Outsmarts Bart Simpson will be sailing in spirit with the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society this season. His creator, Sam Simon, has donated money to purchase a new ship, and not just any ship. It’s formerly owned by the Japanese government. The ice-strengthened ship was built for the Japanese Meterological Agency in 1993 and retired in 2010. It had done real work in the north Pacific in support of the whale hunts there. The ship was purchased through agents that did not disclose the names of the ultimate buyers. The Japanese whaling ships have left Japan and are expected in the Southern Ocean later this month. The Sea Shepherd crews will be trying to dog the wake of the factory ship, the Nisshin Maru , to prevent it from receiving any dead whales. This year’s anti-whaling campaign is called Operation Zero Tolerance and the crews are aiming at a zero kill this year. With the psychological clout of a former as...

B. McPherson Sharks maintain the delicate balance of life in our oceans. Shark finning threatens to make them extinct. Paul Watson, the face of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, has apparently left Germany. He was being detained in that country on a charge from Costa Rica. Watson has been out on bail, but was subject to stringent conditions. He failed to fulfill his bail conditions and his attorney now confirms that he has left the country. The incident for which Costa Rica was requesting extradition was for an incident that occurred in 2002. The basis for the arrest and extradition request was a charge of “violation of ships’ traffic”. Watson maintains that the incident in question took place in Guatemalan waters and he acted on the request of the Guatemalan authorities to stop illegal shark finning. Since the encounter, there are conflicting stories. For many years the Costa Rica request was ignored as it was generally accepted that it was politically motivated. ...

B. McPherson Paul Watson, long time defender of wildlife and the face of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society was arrested in Germany on a warrant issued by Costa Rica. The Costa Rican government issued the arrest warrant after asserting that Paul Watson and his crew illegally interfered with a shark finning operation in their territorial waters. The Sea Shepherd Society has a different slant on that story, alleging that they were requested to take action against the poachers by the Costa Rican government. A quote from the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society page follows: “The fishermen were not injured and their boat was not damaged. The incident was fully documented for the film Sharkwater. Interpol originally denied this extradition order and deemed it as politically motivated. Therefore the question must be asked why Germany is now taking into account accusations made by illegal poachers.”- Captain Paul Watson   There is some credence to the Sea Shepherd v...

Captain Pete Bethune has left the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society organization. Actually, he left October 2010. I just happened to run across his You Tube video explaining why he felt the need to resign. Many of you will remember that Bethune was captain of the high tech Ady Gil.  That was the ship that was in a collision with a Japanese whaler in the Southern Ocean and subsequently sunk. After the sinking Bethune made a daring boarding of the Japanese ship in an attempt to arrest the captain. He was taken to Japan where he spent four months in prison and was given a suspended sentence and deported. His version of events differs from the Sea Shepherd's reasons for leaving. Because I have been a cheerleader for the Society's efforts to dissuade the hunting of whales, I felt I should put on both sides here. You will have to judge for yourselves which is the more truthful.

B. McPherson Paul Watson and his crews of animal activists have announced their intention to disrupt the mass slaughter of pilot whales in the Faroe Islands. Their campaign recorded by Whale Wars Animal Planet is called Operation Ferocious Isles. They will be seeking to divert migrating pilot whales away from the Atlantic islands and failing that, interfere with the actual, bloody killing in the bays. The Faroe Islands are located in the frigid North Atlantic between Iceland and Scotland. These islands are ultimately administered by Denmark although they are independent in most of their internal affairs. The people are descendants of Gaels who settled the islands in the 6 th century and Norsemen who cling to their traditions, one of which has set them against animal rights activists – The Grind. The Grind or grindadrap is a slaughter of pilot whales after having herded them into a shallow bay. The Faroese traditionally depended on whale meat to supplement their di...

B. McPherson Hong Kong Airlines has bowed to pressure from the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, school children and an ever growing petition to stop transporting dolphins. The airlines recently flew five recently captured dolphins from Japan to Vietnam for HK$850 000 according to China Daily . Public outrage has been mounting since a memo circulated to airline staff praising the increased revenue gained by transporting five dolphins from Osaka to Vietnam. Charges of cruelty have been aimed at the airline staff. February 25 saw the HK offices of the airline company visited by the HK Sea Shepherd coordinator , Gary Stokes, school children and activists who presented a petition and a copy of The Cove , the documentary that exposed the bloody slaughter of dolphins and other marine mammals herded to a gruesome death. Their timing was perfect as the company was holding a recruiting drive at the same time. In an about face on March 1 st Hong Kong airlines issued a lett...

B. McPherson If you have ever participated in a Swim With the Dolphins or Dolphin Show, you have an obligation to watch this brutal video. It will open your eyes to what is happening to these intelligent and social animals. The Sea Shepherd Society received a big boost to their funding today with a donation of 900 000 Euros (about 1.2 million USD) for their anti-poaching campaigns. The Dutch National Postcode Lottery funds many different environmental and humanitarian groups. Since its start in 1989 the lottery has donated the equivalent of 4.6 billion US dollars to these groups. Currently the Sea Shepherd society is fighting whale poaching in the Southern Ocean whale sanctuary. There are three harpoon vessels and a factory ship in the Antarctic area. Using a loophole in the language, Japanese whalers seek to kill about 1000 whales each hunting season under the guise of scientific research. Good news regarding activist Erwin Vermeulen who was found not guilty of assa...

B. McPherson Many people criticise Paul Watson and the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society for their methods. The following video allows him to explain his motivation. The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has issued a statement that they will continue their Operation Divine Wind in the Antarctic until the end of the Japanese whaling season at the end of March. While the Japanese government maintains that their whaling operation is non-commercial and within the bounds of the whale protection treaty, many people would dispute their stand. Each year a fleet of three whaling vessels has set out from Japan to the Antarctic during the southern summer to hunt whales. They set a quota of about 1 000 whales per season for scientific purposes. Australian researchers have offered to help the Japanese train in ‘no-kill’ whale research but have been rebuffed. The Sea Shepherd Society has attempted over the past eight years to thwart the killing of whales in the Southern Sanctuary....

B. McPherson                                                       Someone in the Puget Sound, Seattle area is shooting sea lions. To date eight dead sea lions have been found. Both the local Department of Fish and Wildlife and NOAA are investigating the crimes. According to Seattle’s King 5 News one of the dead was a Stellar sea lion, supposed to be protected by the endangered Species Act and another, a California sea lion, protected by the Marine Mammal Protection Act. There have been no arrests in the latest spate of shootings, but the Sea Shepherd Society has stepped up to the plate to offer a $10 000 reward for the apprehension and conviction of the killers. Sea lions and seals have come under attack by fishermen because of their conflicting agendas. The fishermen want to harvest as many fish as they can and the sea mammals wan...

By B. McPherson Sea Shepherd’s Operation Divine Wind encountered the Japanese vessel Yushin Maru No. 3 in the Southern Ocean launching containers of rotten butter and paint at the whaling ship. The Sea Shepherd Society has been active in trying to thwart the killing of whales in the conservation area for eight seasons. While the Japanese government maintains that the whales are killed for research purposes and has gone so far as to paint “Research” on the sides of their vessels, few truly believe that a quota of 1000 dead whales each year constitutes research. Each year the confrontations between the activists and the whalers become more dangerous. The latest saw the Sea Shepherd people in small, fast outboard vessels harassing the whalers with stinking butter. The Japanese responded with concussion grenades and teargas. Source News.com Information about the latest incident is still sketchy but it has been reported that three anti-whaling people have been injured. ...

By B. McPherson The following video is horrific. This action is taking place in a whale sanctuary. These intelligent peaceful beings are being killed in a slow, brutal way. Anyone who eats the flesh of these creatures takes on the pain and sorrow of the whale. Sunday morning the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and Forest Rescue , a non-violent direct action conservation group teamed up to create what is developing into an international incident. According to the Sea Shepherd’s news page , three Forest Rescue men with the help of the anti-whaling activists, boarded the Japanese whaling security ship, the Shonan Maru #2. They are now being held on board. The activists maintain that the boarding of the vessel took place within Australia’s territorial waters and must return the Australian nationals to their country. This tactic was used to divert the Shonan Maru from tailing the Sea Shepherd’s vessel the Steve Irwin. The whalers’ stance is that the action took place in int...

By B. McPherson The Sea shepherd Society’s eighth campaign in the Southern Ocean, Operation Divine Wind , has been dogging the Japanese factory ship Nisshin Maru. Operation Divine Wind has three vessels in the Southern Ocean whale sanctuary this season – Bob Barker, Steve Irwin and the Brigette Bardot – along with helicopter capability. A new, high tech weapon is being used to good effect as well – a drone. While the Japanese government maintains that they are not conducting commercial whaling operations and have painted “Research” on the sides of their vessels, many do not believe their stand. Whale meat has found its way to the commercial markets in Japan and offers of help from non-whaling nations to assist in no-kill research have been rebuffed. The whaling fleet has a target of about 1 000 dead whales per year. The Southern Ocean around Antarctica has been designated a whale sanctuary since 1994. Research is allowed in the area and this loophole is being e...